There are those who never want to share their stories, at least not publicly. When the newspaper featured “Man on the Street” every Sunday, it was a real chore for the reporter to scour the sidewalks in search of willing participants to answer a question. To make it easier on people, the questions were simplified: “Who would you like to win the World Series?” or “How often to do you wash your car?” The editorial staff was stumped when some people would refuse to answer those questions.

Both the Los Alamos Hilltopper boys and girls basketball teams will have a shot at grabbing the reins in the District 2AAAA race, but they both have tall orders to fill in pulling it off.

Los Alamos’ basketball teams will take on their counterparts from Española Valley this weekend. The girls game is scheduled for Saturday in the valley, while the boys game will be at what’s almost guaranteed to be a packed Griffith Gymnasium Friday.

The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls swimming and diving team won three events on its way to a second-place finish at Wednesday’s Albuquerque Academy Quadrangular.

Both the Hilltopper boys and girls teams traveled down to Academy Wednesday to take part in the mid-week meet. The Hilltopper boys finished third in the four-team meet, picking up 68 team points, while the Hilltopper girls finished with 87 team points.

Let’s take a different look at the issue of global warming, or better stated, climate change. First a few observations:

It is undeniable that coal and oil deposits underground had locked up vast amounts of carbon, and to support human activities they are being brought up and burned in enormous quantities, thus releasing the carbon into the atmosphere.

For approximately 10 years, I have had a standing luncheon engagement at a popular restaurant in the Mari-Mac Shopping Center. I used to drive right up and park a half block or less away for a quick and convenient lunch. But over the years things have changed and my friends and I have a hard time finding a place anywhere near the restaurant row at Mari-Mac to park. The problem built up slowly.

The central political battle of our time is between the public sector, public sector unions in particular, and the private sector.

The battle is over “who defines the work and institutions that make a nation thrive and grow,” in the elegant words of columnist Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal. Easterners seem unhappy with the public sector dominance. Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts is the prime example.

Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps will host a rib night from 5-8 p.m. tonight at the Posse Lodge. The menu includes pork ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans, dessert and a drink. The fee is $10 and proceeds will benefit the NJROTC’s activities.

Guitars and Gateaux

Los Alamos Arts Council’s Guitars and Gateaux series will present The Albuquerque Honors Guitar Quartet at 7 p.m. tonight at Fuller Lodge. Music begins at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 for council members and $15 for non-members.

SANTA FE — A recent analysis of death and hospitalization data due to H1N1 in New Mexico found that children younger than age 5 have the highest rate of hospitalizations, and people age 50 to 64 have the highest death rate.

The New Mexico Department of Health’s Epidemiology and Response Division analyzed data collected since April 2009.